Geoege e



(No Model.)

G. E BURT.

SILO.

Patented Apr. 29,1884.'

Invenor N. PETERS. Pmwlimugmpher. washington. DA C.

IlNrTEn STATES PATENT QEETEE.

GEORGE E. BURT, OF HARVARD, MASSACHUSETTS.

SILO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 297,564, dated April29, 1884.

Application filed October 17, 1853. (Nomodel.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, 'GEORGE E. BURT, of Harvard, in the county ofWorcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Portable Compressing- Silos, of which the following is aspecification.

The nature of this invention consists in constructing silos with movablewalls, which are held in position with angle-bolts made withscrew-threads and nuts so arranged that the side walls and top can movetoward each other and diminish the space between the parts, thuscompressing the material within the walls to any desirable compactness;also, in arranging a compound lever with toggle-joints all held inposition with pivots attached in such a manner to the cover of the silothat a weight applied to the lever will cause the cover to press down onthe material in the silo and follow up the pressure with an increasingforce as the ensilage settles. The toggle-joints are constructed so thatthey will be self-acting on the cover and press down on the ensilagewith the same operation that compresses the walls of the silo 5 also, incoating over the planking and joints with an air-excluding material thatmay be applied in a liquid state and dried, such as varnish, shellac,rosin, or tar, 8vo.

Heretofore silos were constructed with masonry-work cemented, Ste., orwith timbers, planking7 or double boarding,` making them stationary anda part of the building. These were expensive, and only those farmerswith a large stock of cattle'could afford to have them; but my improvedportable silo may be con.- structed at any place where power andmachinery are used and material is cheap, and be taken down andtransported to any part of the country. It can be made cheap and of anydesirable capacity. Thus a silo may be had at a small cost. I attainthese objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure 1 is a side view of the silo. Fig. 2 is a top view ofthe silo expanded, ready to fill. Fig. 3 is a top view when the silo isfilled and compressed. Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section on thelines l and 2. Fig. 5 is a view of detached compressing angle-bolt.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in al1 the figures.

I construct the silo with upright posts D D,

held together by screw-nuts C C and rod Q,of sufficient length to allowthe silo to spread. I construct the sides, platen, and bottom of my.silo of plank, jointed and grooved. In the grooves there may be inserteda tongue made of soft wood or some yielding substance, like rubber. Theside planks are placed upright and grooved at the bottom end to receivethe bottom planks.

I construct the compressing-bands A A A A with mitered ends, providedwith seats for the compressing anglebolts B B B B, which are threaded onboth arms of the angle, and with screw-nuts C C C C, well fitted tothese arms, which are of sufficient length to allow the sides of thesilo to be expanded to any desirable distance. These bands (two or more)are placed near the top and bottom, as the size of the silo may require,around the outside of the planking, and are held in' position withscrews N. (Seen in Fig. l.) In the center of two of the side plankingthe upright posts D D are placed, provided with pivot-seats M M andlocks I) P', to lock into the bands AA and the bottom of the silo, andheld firmly in place with bolts or screws. The bottom E E is constructeddouble, and slides apart or together, as is necessary, and has noopening when the silo is expanded to iill, as is seen in Figs. 2 anda.The levers F F and their connections are constructed with pivot-seats,and pivoted to post D by pvot G. The connecting arm H is constructedwith pivot-seats, and is pivoted to leverkF and tog# gie-joint by pivotsI I.' The toggle-joints J J are made of sufficient length to make thedesired angle to give the necessary downward motion,and have pivot-seatsof suflicient number to admit of adjusting the toggle-joints J J on theposts D D and the platen S, which is constructed with planks havinggrooves c o in their edges and ends. Into these grooves insert packing.The planks are held together with an upward projection, (center frame,)provided with pivot-seats, and is pivoted to toggle-joints J J by pivotsX X. Posts TTT T constructed with three sides to Iit the corners of .thesilo, and of sufficient size to cover the opening in the corners of thesilo when it is expanded. Arm O is made to connect togglejoints J J.

Operation: When the silo is to be :filled the IOO screw-nuts G C areunscrewed and the sides of I the common-constructed silo, thus saving athe silo extended theY desirable distance, the bands A A loosened andheld in position by the angle-arms B B, the posts T T T T being inposition to secure and cover the openings in the corners. The silo, thusenlarged, is filled in the usual manner with the cut ensilage, and, whenfilled, the platen or cover placed in position, and the arms of thetoggle-joint pivoted to the moving platen and post, and the parallel armO pivoted, as shown in Fig. l. All vthe screvwnuts C C C C may be eachturned up nearly alike. lThe force of the screw-nuts will act to drawthe sides of the silo together, and as the distance between the posts DD is lessened the toggle-joints will be straightened, and a downwardforce on the movable platen will cause it to press down on the ensilageand bringing a pressure on all, and thus making a fourfold pressure onthe ensilage. In this condition it may be left, to allow it to settletogether over night; and by still further turning up the nuts the massmay be more compressed until the plank sides of the silo come in contactwith each other at the four corners. The screw-nuts may now be stillfurther. turned down and force together all the joints of the planking,thus making an air-tight silo. At this stage, the nuts on the ro'd Q maybe loosened and the connecting-arm O be removed and the platen raisedout of the silo-space that has been made by the downward movement oftheplaten lled with ensilage, and thelevers F F and their connections beattached. The platen may now be operated with the levers F F, and as theextra ensilage is pressed down by the aetion of the compound leveractuating the tog gle-joints, and by attaching a weight to the lever F acontinued downward force is brought to bear on the ensilage as itsettles, and thus get all the advantages of the heavy weight usuallyemployed in pressing the ensilage in large amount of hard labor andmaking a cheaper and desirable silo; and this silo may be morecompletely filled, as it does not require a large space for stones orother material for the downward pressure. The posts T T T T cover theopenings in the corners when the silo is expanded, and when compressedthey slide onl the sides and completely fill the angle of the cornersfully compressed. After the ensilage has been compressed, the nuts C C CC are turned up tight on the four sides of the silo, all the joints andcorners in the platen and the sides are forced together, and theyielding packing automatically makes an airtight portable silo.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my invention,what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A portable compressing silo composed of movable parts, constructedand arranged substantially as described.

2. The mechanismin a silo constructed with laterally-compressing sides,substantially as described.

3.' The bands A A, connecting with angleirons B B, screws and nuts C C,in combina tion with a silo, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the lever F, the connecting` arms II H, thetogglejoints J J, pivots I, I, G, and X, with post D, all arranged in asilo, substantially as described. A

5. The combination of the toggle-joints J J J J, the arm O, the posts DD, the platens R and S, and rod Q, all arranged substantially asdescribed.

6. In combination with a silo, the platen R S, constructed with grooves,and yielding packing in its joints, substantially as described.

. GEO. E. BURT.

lfitnesses:

EMORY B. PAGE, E. E. BURT.

